Chuck Todd argued that people label Barack Obama as “liberal” only because he is Black, saying the far right viewed him as an ideological threat and that Obama governed closer to George W. Bush than Donald Trump. Todd made the remarks on Monday’s So What podca
For Chuck Todd, the debate wasn’t about ideology so much as who gets blamed for it.
On Monday, the former Meet the Press host told Chris Cillizza on the So What podcast that the “only reason” people see former President Barack Obama as liberal is “because he’s Black.”
Todd said the far right viewed Obama “as some left winger” when. in his view. Obama was “basically a degree more liberal than Bill Clinton.” Then he challenged the framing that followed. When Cillizza agreed that Obama was “temperamentally a moderate,” he added that Obama was “probably liberal on policy.”.
Todd pressed back immediately: “What policy was he that liberal on, Chris?” He asked, as Cillizza interrupted with an explanation offered with a chuckle. “It’s because he was Black.”
Todd accepted the premise just long enough to drive his point home. “Thank you, the only reason people think he was liberal is because he’s Black,” he said. Todd added that Obama “governed more closely to George W. Bush than Donald Trump.”
Todd’s skepticism about Obama has been long-running, and it showed up in his earlier pushback during the Obama administration. In 2014. after Obama announced he would not consider any executive action on immigration until after midterms. Todd joined Obama on Meet the Press for what Todd described as a grilling.
During that 2014 exchange, Todd asked what message Obama had for “the person that’s going to get deported before the election,” arguing that the decision “was essentially made in your hopes of saving a Democratic Senate.” Todd added: “It looks like election year politics.”
More recently, Todd and Cillizza have faced blowback tied to White House criticism. Last month, Cillizza and Todd came under fire after White House Communications Director Steven Cheung accused them of racism following remarks made on The Chuck ToddCast.
In response to Cheung’s comments. Todd said on the Chuck ToddCast. “Is he a real person?” He followed that with a comparison designed to dismiss the accusation: “If you told me Steven Cheung were like a creation of AI… I just don’t believe he actually exists. I don’t think I’ve ever physically seen him.”.
Todd continued, calling Cheung’s posture “so over-the-top” and arguing that “no actual human being with 10 seconds of political training would behave this way.” The segment was watched above via X.
The throughline in Todd’s latest remarks is stark: he doesn’t just argue about policy—he argues about the lens people use to interpret it, and who gets pulled into that interpretation. On Monday, he insisted the answer was direct: the label “liberal” sticks to Obama, he said, because “he’s Black.”
Chuck Todd Barack Obama Meet the Press So What podcast Chris Cillizza White House Communications Director Steven Cheung racism accusations immigration far right